Box Score
HILLSBORO, Kan -- 8th-ranked Tabor College showed why they are one of the top running teams in the country as the Bluejays ran for 400 yards as they shutout the Prairie Wolves 36-0 in the season opener on Saturday (Sept. 6) in Hillsboro, Kan.

NWU was held to 39 yards in the second half as the Prairie Wolves were unable to get any offense going to mount the comeback.  Tabor led 22-0 at halftime and tacked on two more rushing scores in the third quarter to earn the victory.

It looked good for NWU early as they took the opening drive inside the redzone and threatened to get on the board first.  The drive stalled and a 28-yard field goal attempt hit the upright to keep NWU off the board.  It was the first of two missed field goals on the day for freshman kicker Kramer Rath.

On the next possession for the Prairie Wolves, quarterback Tyler Francis was intercepted to give Tabor ideal field position.  They converted a key 4th down and eventually scored on a 1-yard TD run by D'Marco Smith.  Tabor added another touchdown as quarterback Simon McKee hit Cody Coleman for a 29-yard TD on 4th down.  Tabor was 5-5 on 4th down conversions in the game.

Coleman scored again in the 2nd quarter on a 41-yard run around the edge.  The Bluejays added a 29-yard field goal go to into half up 22-0.

In the the 3rd quarter, NWU forced Tabor to punt on the opening drive, but then muffed the punt return attempt as Tabor jumped on the ball at the 17-yard line.  From there, all the momentum went out from the Prairie Wolves as Tabor got a 8-yard TD run by McKee on fourth down.

They would put together a 2-play, 80 yard drive to cap off the scoring as Ben Bebermeier took a jet sweep 18 yards for a score.

The Bluejays finished with 519 yards of total offense as they held onto the ball the final 9:00 of the game.  The Bluejays ran for 400 yards on 70 carries and McKee was 8-12 through the air.

For NWU, they finished with 191 yards of offense, 150 through the air and 41 on the ground.  Joel Wiedel ran for 40 yards on nine carries to lead the Prairie Wolves.  Tyler Francis finished 10-28 for 150 yards with an interception and was sacked three times.  Corey Jones got two passes for 70 yards to lead the receivers.

Kalen Vandenberg and Max Lorence each had 11 total tackles, while Phil Latimer had 10 tackles with a sack and 3.0 TFL.

It won't get any easier next week as the Prairie Wolves open GPAC play with a home game versus #3 Morningside at Abel Stadium.